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Politics : The Environmentalist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: D_I_R_T who wrote (4687)	4/5/2005 5:12:04 PM
From: Elmer Flugum	Respond to of 36921

On one hand salmon are protected because folks like to eat them, on the other hand, they do not care about what they are eating. I wish folks would not harm their habitat and/or just leave them alone altogether. len

To: D_I_R_T who wrote (4687)	4/17/2005 10:51:58 AM
From: D_I_R_T	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 36921

Probably not much chance of this passing but hopefully it will raise the awarenss of the environmental impacts of at least some forms of fish farming. Kodiak Daily Mirror Murkowski introduces legislation banning federal fish farming Article published on Friday, April 15th, 2005 By SAM BISHOP Mirror Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — Sen. Lisa Murkowski introduced legislation today to ban fish farming in federal waters offshore nationwide. The legislation, if passed, would declare that no aquaculture shall occur in waters beyond the three-mile state boundaries until federal agencies study diseases, pollution, genetic mixing risks and economic effects, among other issues. Once the studies are completed, Congress would not have to act again to lift the ban, said Murkowski’s spokesman Elliott Bundy. The decision to issue acquaculture permits or not could be made administratively, though the decision would be subject to congressional oversight. The legislation also requires that each federal agency must consult with the governor of the nearest state before approving a permit. Also, if a permit is issued, it must be approved by the regional fisheries management council. Mark Vinsel, executive director of United Fishermen of Alaska in Juneau, said his group opposes fish farming categorically, but is “very pleased with Sen. Murkowski taking the lead pro-actively on this issue on behalf of Alaskans.” “Sen. Murkowski’s legislation is generally in line with our position,” he said. The UFA, an umbrella group of 31 commercial fishing groups and hundreds of individuals, supports the involvement of the regional councils, Vinsel said. “What I think is important especially for Alaskans to know, when you look at what’s going on federally, and this was clear at the Managing our Nation’s Fisheries conference a few weeks ago, management of fisheries is under a microscope because of both the Pew Ocean Commission report and, more importantly, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy report.” “The U.S. Oceans Commission was more supportive of the regional council system, but we are at risk of them throwing out the baby with the bathwater if we don’t support our council and the local input and control that this gives us over fishing in federal waters,” Vinsel said. “Our whole fishing economy can be at risk from people who have positions on whether this works or not in other parts of the country.” Murkowski said she wants to make sure aquaculture gets a thorough review before it proceeds. The administration, she said, is drafting a bill to allow fish farming in offshore waters. “We have only rumors about what may be in that draft bill,” Murkowski said in a news release. “The administration has had meetings on the general topic of aquaculture, but has done little or nothing to work with those of us who represent fishing constituencies in the development of the specifics that will appear in the draft bill.” A recent Washington Post story noted that Murkowski’s bill could potentially stop efforts to develop aquaculture around drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, which some want to keep in place after oil work is done because of the ecosystems that have developed around them. Bundy, Murkowski’s spokesman, said it’s unclear how the bill might affect those ideas. “It’s been raised by a couple of reporters, really, who were doing stories on the possible implications on using rigs for aquaculture. We haven’t done an analysis of that yet.” Washington, D.C., reporter Sam Bishop can be reached via e-mail at sbishop@newsminer.com. [ printable version ]